~ Just me and my Crew exploring and sharing the world with all of you.

Thoughts on Delivery Options

This week, with the impending #Snowzilla2016 bearing down upon us, chilling us to the core with threats of upwards of three feet of snow, I found myself tracking all my packages twice as often. Would they get stuck somewhere in a snowpocalypse drift, never to be seen from again? Was my poor mailman going to feel the need to brave the blizzard due to some undying desire to live up to his creed:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…

Thankfully, the last of the packages expected this week came just before first flakes fell, a good five hours before my regular mail delivery time. Impressive.

How do businesses decide on shipping? I have services that simply use the USPS or UPS and standard FedEx. Then there’s those that use DHL, which I not-so-lovingly call “Day-and-a-Half Late”, or Fed Ex (not so) SmartPost. Bloggers enjoy the benefits of a few extra bucks with affiliate links and some businesses choose drop shippers instead of managing their own product and shipping.

Four days this week we’ve seen snow fall. That’s a lot of time to sit, ponder, research, and talk to others. It is interesting to see others’ thoughts. I don’t know that there’s ever a “right” approach, as each comes with its own strengths and weaknesses. You need to decide which is best for you and your business. Interestingly, I think it’s the same on the consumer side of things, which is probably important for a business to consider.

How do I decide what I want to purchase? Would I prefer a commercial on my television to an advert in my mailbox/spam in my e-mail? How do I find reviews on a product: a blog or Amazon? Again, there’s no right way over wrong way. Each method works well, there’s more than one individual influenced by any particular advertising plan.

What would I choose, should I ever start a business? I honestly don’t know any more today than I did a week ago. There is a part of me that likes the idea of exercising control over my would-be business, but another that realizes how unweildy that becomes as a business grows. Would I want the hassle of dealing with employees, inventory, insurance, selling, shipping, and a web presence or would I prefer simply creating content and going the route of affiliate and drop shipping?

Likely I’d choose the latter, but that’s more because I personally think content creation is easier than actually selling. I am grateful that this is not something I’m looking in to right now.

After all, I’m busy enough tracking next week’s packages and the movement of this storm.